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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
St. Paul, Minnesota has not been a pleasant place to visit for the Vegas Golden Knights, a formidable NHL team that struggles against the Wild in Minnesota.
And Wednesday’s nationally-televised VGK-Wild game on NBCSN did not start well for the Golden Knights when Minnesota converted a Shea Theodore turnover into a goal in the first minute of the game.
But the Knights bounced back when VGK defenseman Dylan Coghlan pounced on a puck in front of Minnesota netminder Kaapo Kahkonen and fired in his first career goal as centerman Cody Glass retrieved the keepsake puck for Coghlan. It turned out it was the first of three goals on the night for Coghlan.
The Knights welcomed back defenseman Brayden McNabb, who has been injured since January, and forward Mark Stone, who missed Monday’s 2-0 VGK loss.
And that’s the way the first period ended: Minnesota and Vegas were tied at one.
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There was no scoring in the middle stanza but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any action.
Now in his 17th season, VGK netminder Marc-Andre Fleury flashed the glove to thwart several Wild shots with the Knights defense playing sloppily a times.
It’s hard to believe only six months ago in the Edmonton playoff bubble Fleury was a back-up to Robin Lehner, who was anointed as the starter in the postseason and given a big, multi-year contract.
Fleury is leading the NHL in save percentage and has led the Knights to a sparkling 16-5-1 record after 22 games during the 56-game pandemic season with only division opponent games.
As VGK forward Max Pacioretty put it, original Misfit Fleury is still the heart-and-soul of this fourth-year franchise.
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Minnesota surged ahead at the start of the third period when Kirill Kaprizov scooped up a rebound and flipped the puck past Fleury. That made it, 2-1, Minnesota.
Joel Eriksson Ek then scored to give the Wild a 3-1 lead. Minnesota’s Carson Soucy widened the lead to 4-1.
After the fourth goal, VGK back-up goalie Logan Thompson entered the game for his first NHL action as the VGK needed a jolt.
“I don’t think we needed to pull the goalie to realize we weren’t playing properly in the third period,” Stone said after the game.
Coghlan took a pass from Alec Martinez and fired in a short-side goal to cut the lead to 4-2. He then slapped home his third of the game to cut the lead to 4-3.
The Knights nearly tied the score after pulling the goalie for a sixth skater.
Final: Minnesota 4 Vegas 3
The Knights have now dropped five of six games in St. Paul and move on to St. Louis for two games before returning to Las Vegas for a pair of games against the San Jose Sharks.